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editor's note

Tanya Chaitanya (Editor Femina India)

For every doubting Thomas who tells you women can’t scale mountains, wrestle in the ring, endure physical hardship, your comeback should be a simple hashtag:#StandStrong.
There’s no bigger retaliation than success, they say. So show your calibre to these detractors or anybody who believes that we, as women, lack the potential to be physically as fit as men by being just that. Not to say that it will be an easy process.
The conditioning that we are not at par physically starts early. From the time we are offered a hand to bring down the cookie jar to when we are told not to lift too heavy a weight; when the sports selectors in schools bypass promising girl children or when the male friends refuse to count us in in any serious hiking plans—that feeling of being physically less is ingrained right from the beginning.
So how is it that we witness sportswomen like Mary Kom packing a punch in the arena or a badminton champ like PV Sindhu physically pushing herself to the limits? Or the fact that celebs like Jacqueline Fernandez, Taapsee Pannu, Katrina Kaif swear by their fitness routine and are known to train for longer hours than their male counterparts?
Then again look beyond these superwomen. Look around you. There are regular women storming into male bastions, physically-challenging professions and pursuits, and coming out triumphant. This new-found confidence comes with taking care of yourself, being cognizant of the fact that our body needs to be given TLC, from the right diet and nutrition to exercise and care to help us stand strong.
This is when I raise a toast: Here’s to strong women. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them!

Rohingya Muslims: Outcast in Myanmar

The plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims has made international headlines. But even as thousands of refugees appeal to countries, there is no solution in sight. Femina speaks to Divya Sama, who works in the field of humanitarian communications and has witnessed first-hand the plight of the Rohingyas in Myanmar, on what can be done to help.

The Rohingya Muslims—over 10 lakh in number—have lived in western Myanmar (Burma) for generations. And yet, they are not considered citizens because Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Act does not recognise them as one of the country’s national races. The government restricts the movement of this minority community within the Rakhine state of Myanmar, and beyond its borders as well.

Their children are prohibited from attending schools, their families have no source of income, as they are not allowed to own land, and the men are often forced into unpaid labour. They cannot marry without official permission and a new birth control law has recently been introduced, allowing authorities to ‘organise’ family planning among groups with high birth rates—it is said to be aimed primarily at controlling birth rates of the Muslim community. No wonder Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims are called one of the world’s most persecuted people. To escape systemic violence and persecution from their government, thousands of Rohingyas have been migrating to South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand by rickety boats for several years now.

There is a huge human trafficking network operating in the area, holding the illegal migrants who land in the neighbouring countries captive and demanding ransom from their families. Ironically, even as neighbouring countries refuse to allow the refugees to land, Buddhist nationalists in Myanmar refuse to accept that those stranded on the boat are, in fact, Rohingya Muslims.

Divya Sama, who works in the field of humanitarian communications, has been based in Myanmar since 2014, and has worked closely with the Rohingya Muslims in their camps in Rakhine. She speaks to Femina about the plight of these refugees.

Tell us a bit about your background. I started my career as a journalist in India. I then went to Columbia University to study international relations, with a focus on international security policy and human rights. I specialise in Communications with Communities (CwC) and Accountability to Affected Population (AAP) auditing work. I have studied, worked and lived in Afghanistan, Jordan, the Lebanon/Syrian border, Myanmar, India, the Philippines, the US, Switzerland and Vanuatu since my departure from India in 2008. For the past five years, I have been working extensively in the areas of CwC, AAP as well as Aid Evaluations.

CwC is an emerging fi eld in the humanitarian sector—we believe that communication, just like shelter and food, is also a form of humanitarian aid. I have conducted large-scale assessments to monitor the work of the UN, governments and international NGOs, for refugees and internally displaced populations.

How long have you been in Myanmar?What is the socio-cultural scene there like?This is my second year in Myanmar; it has been my home since January 2014. Myanmar is dynamic—reform is happening here at a rapid pace. The media and telecommunications landscape has changed dramatically in the span of a year. The city of Yangon, where I live, is currently bursting with entrepreneurs. IT, innovation and social networking platforms are booming fields. My work with some ministries here gave me the impression that they want rapid improvement in their systems and are open to discussion. But at the same time, there still exist looming questions related to the fate of the many ethnic minorities in the country. The ongoing boat crisis is an example of this.

Who are the Rohingya Muslims?The identity of the Rohingya Muslims is a sensitive political question and the answer to this is heavily disputed. The Rohingya I have come across and interacted with are a population that is internally displaced and now residing in various camps in parts of Myanmar, such as Sittwe, in Rakhine. Camp life comes with a lot of restrictions on freedom of movement. So it is understandable that this has impacted other sources of income generation or work they were involved in earlier. Many of the women I met in camps were confined to their houses. Their only window to the outside world was the radio. However, even then, it was mostly their husbands who listened to the radio and then informed them about what was happening.

What is their current status in Myanmar?The Rohingya, like many groups in the world, have been suffering from ethnical and religious persecution. Their situation is similar to the Somalis, who are crossing the deadlyMediterranean Sea, or the people fl eeing Syria and Iraq. There are more than fi ve crore people of various ethnicities and groups fl eeing their countries across the world. But what is of concern is the fact that politicians are doing very little to mitigate or solve the problem.

There is a question mark around their identity—which, of course, directly impacts the quality of their life, making them more vulnerable. The conditions in the camps in which they live are squalid. By far, the most vulnerable among them is the Rohingya woman.

Tell us about your visit to Rakhine.As an independent researcher who frequented Rakhine, there were some things that surprised me. Many people from the camps could speak Urdu, and I was surprised to learn about the popularity of Bollywood music and movies among them. There were many who managed to download Bollywood music on their mobile phones, which provided a sort of respite from the despair they felt. At many of the camps, conversations were accompanied by hot samosas.

At one camp, I met a gang of women that was unique. I had only met disempowered, vulnerable women in camps, so these strong women came as a pleasant surprise to me. WhenI inquired if they had any problems, one of the women exclaimed, “Problem? Oh, don’t worry. If anyone troubles me, I will run straight to the security post and create a scene. In fact, you tell me if you ever have a problem.” At that moment, I felt that their spirit could not be broken by the conditions they lived in.

What do you think can be done to improve their condition?This is a problem with many vicious links to it—starting from community acceptance to issues of human trafficking and what transpires when the communities leave the camp. Clearly, a political solution is a long-term solution. But, some basic preventive measures can help. A better means to communicate with the Rohingya Muslims needs to be explored. Tapping into new forms of media or even old ones like radio is a challenge given the sensitive nature of the conflict. So many Rohingya women who are disempowered alsotake the perilous sea route towards what they think is a better life—increased funding is needed to create more awareness on human traffi cking and explain to the people that theyare taking up a journey that may be riskier than life in the camps.

Continued advocacy for the protection of journalists is also needed. The media has and will play a critical role in informing the world about the status of the community, and support by reporting on the issues the Rohingya Muslims face will help greatly.